Media – CatholicVote.orghttps://www.catholicvote.org
The mission of CatholicVote.org is to educate and inspire Americans of all faiths to prioritize the issues of life, faith, and family.Thu, 24 May 2018 17:16:35 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.2The Stephen Herreid Show is a program where the dogma lives loudly.CatholicVote.orgcleanepisodicCatholicVote.orgmercer@catholicvote.orgmercer@catholicvote.org (CatholicVote.org)No mules were harmed in the making of this episodeMedia – CatholicVote.orghttp://catholicvote.org/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/cv-podcast-469.pnghttps://www.catholicvote.org/category/media-2/
mercer@catholicvote.orgThe Stephen Herreid Show is a program where the dogma lives loudly. Top 10 Celebrities For Abortion in Ireland Referendumhttps://www.catholicvote.org/top-10-celebrities-for-abortion-in-ireland-referendum/
https://www.catholicvote.org/top-10-celebrities-for-abortion-in-ireland-referendum/#respondWed, 16 May 2018 18:55:07 +0000https://www.catholicvote.org/?p=17767As celebrities push for abortion in Ireland, they’re framing their fight as a battle for women. But every pregnancy physically involves two people. Not one.

On May 25th, Ireland will hold a referendum on whether or not to repeal the country’s Eighth Amendment banning abortion. As citizens prepare to take part in the vote, celebrities from Liam Neeson to U2 are using star power for abortion support.

After a 1983 referendum, Ireland’s Constitution expanded to include the Eighth Amendment. The amendment reads: “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”

According to The Independant, a repeal of the amendment would pave the way for Ireland’s government to allow abortions up to 12 weeks. But to be clear: there isn’t an absolute abortion ban right now.

In 2013, the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act became law and declared that abortions were legal under three circumstances: “risk of loss of life from physical illness,” “risk of loss of life from physical illness in emergency,” or “risk of loss of life from suicide.”

That’s still not enough for many in the entertainment industry. Here are the top 10 celebrities backing the repeal of the Eighth:

Liam Neeson

Neeson, who has starred in movies like Taken and Schindler’s List, is a longtime advocate for repealing the Eighth. In early May, he released a statement urging men “to stand with women.”

“There are times when we must stand for what is right. When the obvious injustice of a situation demands that we do so,” he wrote. “For me, the upcoming referendum on the Eighth Amendment is one of those times.”

At the same time, together with other Irish celebrities, he appeared in an ad by abortion group Together for Yes to support the repeal. But that wasn’t the first time he used his voice in a video for abortion. In 2015, he narrated an Amnesty International Ireland ad calling for the “repeal of the eighth” because Ireland “doesn’t have to be chained to its past.”

Saoirse Ronan

Ronan, who rose to fame last year after starring in the Oscar-nominated film Lady Bird, appeared in the Together for Yes video along with Neeson.

“I am a woman. I am Irish,” Hyland tweeted. “I have a slew of health complications that COULD put me in a situation where I would be forced to make a heartbreaking decision. If I was a resident of Ireland, the laws in place would kill me.”

U2

On May 1, the world-famous rock band tweeted out a “Repeal the Eighth” picture with the caption “Vote on May 25th.” The announcement came as the group launched a new tour.

“It’s huge, there’s this huge divergence of opinion and it’s very emotive and I accept that,” guitarist The Edge said, according to The Irish Times. “It’s hard to take a stance without acknowledging there’s another side of it but I’m for it. I support Repeal.”

Cillian Murphy

The Inception and Red Eye actor also appeared in the Together for Yes video.

In an April interview he argued that “Men and women are custodians of this society and we both decide what’s going to happen for our future,” according to Irish Central. He added, “I think, you know, that you can be well-intentioned and say ‘look, it should be for women to decide this’, but we need to go out and support women on this.”

Liam Cunningham

The Game of Thrones actor appeared in the Together for Yes video alongside Neeson and Ronan.

“In Ireland today,” he began the celebrity video, which continues with other celebrities reading “if the woman sitting next to you is pregnant, she does not have full rights over her own body.”

Aimee Richardson

Richardson, who also stars in Game of Thrones, called for the repeal. In support of Together for Yes, she tweeted out “I’m beaming with pride for our wee island” on May 7.

“So wonderful to see so many people from both sides of the boarder [sic]coming together to support reproductive rights for all,” she wrote. If that wasn’t enough, her Twitter bio includes the hashtag “#RepealThe8th.”

Chris O’Dowd

The Irish actor, who has starred in films like Bridesmaids, partnered with Amnesty International Ireland’s Vote Yes campaign. In a video posted May 14, O’Dowd insisted, “Vote ‘Yes’ on May 25th.”

“This is a once in a generation opportunity to stand with our wives, our girlfriends, our mothers, our daughters,” he said. “Be part of the future, not the past.”

Courteney Cox

On May 9, the Friends actress tweeted out the Together for Yes celebrity video along with the caption “Repeal the eighth!!!”

Kate Nash

The actress, who stars in Netflix’s GLOW, tweeted May 10 against the eighth.

]]>https://www.catholicvote.org/top-10-celebrities-for-abortion-in-ireland-referendum/feed/0Media Exclude Pro-Life Women in Coverage of Iowa Abortion Banhttps://www.catholicvote.org/media-exclude-pro-life-women-in-coverage-of-iowa-abortion-ban/
https://www.catholicvote.org/media-exclude-pro-life-women-in-coverage-of-iowa-abortion-ban/#respondWed, 09 May 2018 18:17:28 +0000https://www.catholicvote.org/?p=17685“Women” doesn’t include all women, at least according to the media’s latest coverage of abortion.

On May 4, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed into law a ban on abortion if there’s a detectable fetal heartbeat, or around six weeks into pregnancy. Although the law makes exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities and life of the mother, news sites recognized it as the “most restrictive” abortion ban in America. They also warned of a possible “nightmare for women” – “women” minus those who identify as pro-life.

Though a woman signed the bill, many in the media framed the legislation as an attack on “women.”

In an NBC News op-ed, writer Maureen Shaw concluded that “Women’s lives and health do not matter to Iowa’s Republican legislature or governor.” She called the law’s potential to later overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, a “dystopian nightmare for women.”

But who are these “women”?

It wasn’t Gov. Reynolds, who argued, “[I]f death is determined when a heart stops beating, then doesn’t a beating heart indicate life?”

March for Life President Jeanne Mancini didn’t fit the description either, as she applauded Iowa for recognizing “personhood has inherent dignity from the moment of conception.”

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser also doesn’t qualify, as she stands with Gov. Reynolds for “advancing legislation that recognizes the humanity of the unborn child.”

But if by “women” Shaw exclusively meant “writers for online women’s news sites,” she would be correct.

For Refinery29, writer Andrea González-Ramírez covered the “latest attack against a woman’s right to choose” while The Cut senior writer Gabriella Paiella warned the bill “could have seriously adverse repercussions for Iowa women.”

“Basically, if you were planning to move to Iowa in the near future, you might want to reconsider,” added Marie Claire editorial fellow Alex Warner. “Maybe somewhere where your state politicians will actually take women’s rights into consideration?”

This isn’t the first time pro-life women have been excluded from the term “women.” When the Women’s March began in 2016, the organizers made clear that pro-life women weren’t welcome to officially participate – by removing women-led pro-life groups from the partner list.

Like media figures, leaders of abortion organizations also exclude pro-life women when talking about women.

NARAL President Ilyse Hogue called the bill signing a “sad day for women and families in Iowa” in a statement to Refinery29, while Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens told Teen Vogue in another statement that “Politicians in Iowa are hell bent on controlling women’s bodies.”

In a May 8 interview with Democracy Now!, former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards found herself “shocked” that Gov. Reynolds “signed this bill,” and added that “this is going to have an impact this November.”

“That’s why women are turning out in droves,” Richards said, “because they understand that their – their rights, as well as affordable healthcare, are under attack.”

Yes, women’s rights are “under attack.” But not in the way she thinks. If only she and those in the media would take a moment to contemplate that pro-life women champion women’s rights too. It’s just that their definition of “women” includes baby girls in the womb.

A rosary draped around the neck of Taylor Hill, a Victoria’s Secret model.

Sarah Jessica Parker sporting a nativity scene on her head.

For traditional and conservative Catholics, the use of religious iconography for the costumes and accessories of scantily-clad celebs at the 2018 Met Gala was inappropriate at best and blasphemous at worst.

Themed “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” the Met Gala was cosponsored by The Vatican, and the two organizations apparently worked together on the event for a year. While Catholicism has long inspired beautiful pieces of art, religious leaders apparently didn’t consider that Leftist celebrities are more interested in the gaudy than the divine.

I scrolled through the best- and worst-dressed lists this morning and scoffed at the excessive cleavage, the long cutouts, the high slits, and the use of icons as decoration rather than tribute. If these celebrities were hoping to show their respect for Catholicism, they certainly failed.

I actually believe the display was more cringe-worthy than it was offensive, but what struck me the most was how the same Leftists who constantly call out cultural appropriation were celebrating the apparent religious appropriation of the Catholic faith.

But funnily enough, some people are even upset with the Kardashian and Jenner family because they didn’t dress well enough to theme for the Met Gala. Kim opted for a gold dress with cross adornments while sisters Kendall and Kylie both wore monochromatic white and black looks.

For those who don’t follow the Kardashian family, they are almost always being accused of cultural appropriation for things like wearing braids in their hair, sporting Native American headdresses to music festivals, or even just appearing “too black” in photo shoots.

It certainly is interesting that when Catholicism is involved, suddenly the Kardashians aren’t being culturally appropriative enough!

I also wondered if people would be upset if the Met Gala were themed around any other religion besides Christianity. How would progressives react if celebrities were costumed in caricaturized, cleavage-revealing hijabs or burkas? What if they all had bejeweled yarmulkes on their heads instead of nativity scenes?

Turns out we don’t have to wonder at all, because Khloe Kardashian and Madonna have already been trashed for not paying proper respect to the niqab. Rihanna, who not so humbly wore a pope outfit to this year’s Met Gala, was kicked out of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for taking “inappropriate pictures” in an Arab-inspired outfit.

So what makes Catholicism different? Is it just a case of open hostility on the part of Hollywood toward Christianity?

I assume like a lot of conservative Catholics, I will be annoyed at the Met Gala for about an hour or so before moving on with my life. It’s simply not healthy to be constantly outraged at the ignorance of celebrities.

That being said, I hope Left-leaning people (including Catholics!) will ask themselves why it is fun and fashionable to dress up as Catholics but disrespectful and appropriative to dress as other cultures and religions. The double standard here is simply impossible to ignore.

]]>https://www.catholicvote.org/cultural-appropriation-crowd-silent-about-mock-catholic-metgala/feed/2Media Figures, Activists Defend ‘Edgy’ Michelle Wolf’s Abortion Jokehttps://www.catholicvote.org/media-figures-activists-defend-edgy-michelle-wolfs-abortion-joke/
https://www.catholicvote.org/media-figures-activists-defend-edgy-michelle-wolfs-abortion-joke/#respondWed, 02 May 2018 16:30:28 +0000https://www.catholicvote.org/?p=17606Not everyone is unhappy with Michelle Wolf. As the comedienne toyed with the value of unborn human life, she was recognized as a “hero” by certain figures in the media.

On Saturday, April 28, Wolf hosted the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner. In the middle of her remarks, Wolf made an abortion “joke” about “anti-choice” Vice President Mike Pence. She said:

“He thinks abortion is murder. Which, first of all, don’t knock it ‘til you try it. And when you do try it, really knock it. You know, you gotta get that baby out of there. And yeah sure, you can groan all you want, I know a lot of you are very anti-abortion, you know, unless it’s the one you got for your secret mistress. It’s fun how values can waver.”

Conservatives and liberals alike condemned her words, but some media figures and abortion supporters still raced to her defense – including for her abortion “humor.”

Al Jazeera’s AJ+ host Francesca Fiorentini bashed media figures who criticized the “edgy” Wolf. Fiorentini blamed the attacks on what she saw as sexist media outlets, rather than for the content of Wolf’s “joke.”

“I think another reason they are ripping Wolf apart is that she’s a female comic who made abortion, vagina and sex jokes,” she insisted on Twitter. “She is an edgy feminist comic who kills all over the country. And mainstream outlets couldn’t take it.”

According to The Nation correspondent and CNN contributor Joan Walsh, they shouldn’t have been surprised. She, too, used the word “edgy” to describe Wolf.

“The ‘edginess’ of her routine was well-known, including the abortion joke, was widely known — so anyone pretending to be surprised is either stupid or lying,” Walsh tweeted.

Amelia Bonow, co-founder of the #ShoutYourAbortion campaign that encourages women to share their (positive) abortion stories, went so far as to hope that Wolf’s comments meant she had an abortion herself.

In other words, Wolf’s “don’t knock it ‘til you try it” point “could reasonably be interpreted as her saying she’s had one,” she tweeted. “That’s f***ing amazing! It wasn’t necessarily a shout but it felt like a really brave wink.”

Likewise, New York Times best-selling author and singer Amanda Palmer congratulated Wolf for “being a beautiful combo of truthful & hilarious.”

“[M]ay all women draw strength from your awesomeness!” she tweeted, “also thank you for helping to normalize abortion talk.”

Even former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards chimed in to say that Wolf is “a comedian, that was her job,” during CNN’s New Day on May 1. Although, she admitted, abortion “isn’t a topic that I make jokes about.”

Although few and far between, some media outlets praised Wolf in their headlines.

“It is surreal to see a joke about abortion met with more condemnation than the fact that senators are suggesting the death penalty for women who have abortions,” Wright deflected, rather than actually addressing Wolf’s words.

According to The Daily Beast, Wolf’s “honesty” was “what America needs right now.”

In her piece, editor Erin Gloria Ryan responded to CNN editor Chris Cillizza who asked, “Does anyone celebrate abortion—even jokingly?” Gloria Ryan argued that “every female comic working in New York and L.A. right now has at least a tight five on abortion. Watch some comedy. Any comedy. Actually, better yet, stay the hell away from comedy.”

If that’s what comedy is – the casual dehumanization of the unborn human person – then yes, please. That’s nothing to laugh about, because, unlike what Wolf says, some values don’t waver.

While WHCA President Margaret Talev admitted Wolf’s comments were “not in the spirit” of the association’s dinner, Wolf isn’t backing down. “I wouldn’t change a single word that I said,” she told NPR. “I’m very happy with what I said, and I’m glad I stuck to my guns.”

And so, perhaps, she and her media supporters will also understand if those who disagree don’t budge either.

]]>https://www.catholicvote.org/media-figures-activists-defend-edgy-michelle-wolfs-abortion-joke/feed/0GQ Slams ‘Overrated’ Bible, But Writes About It All the Timehttps://www.catholicvote.org/gq-slams-overrated-bible-but-writes-about-it-all-the-time/
https://www.catholicvote.org/gq-slams-overrated-bible-but-writes-about-it-all-the-time/#commentsWed, 25 Apr 2018 11:59:54 +0000https://www.catholicvote.org/?p=17525While editors of one popular men’s magazine slam the “overrated” Bible, they’re forgetting their own website refers to the Scriptures regularly.

On April 21, GQ magazine tweeted out a list, compiled by its editors, of the “21 most overrated books ever” alongside “21 books to read instead.” For No. 12, they listed the best-selling book of all time: The Holy Bible.

“[W]e realized that not all the Great Books have aged well,” GQargued in the story. “So we—and a group of un-boring writers—give you permission to strike these books from the canon.”

Yes, that’s right. According to GQ, a 2,000-year-old book that continues to be purchased by millions hasn’t “aged well.”

But the editors (yes, the editors) didn’t stop at naming the “overrated” books. They insulted each and every one. For the Bible, they featured a blurb by Census author Jesse Ball, who wanted to replace the Good Book with The Notebook by Agota Kristof. After all, he argued, Christians don’t even read it.

“The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it,” Kristof insisted. (Obviously, it’s not rated highly by people who read it but don’t live by it. While Ball’s father was a former seminarian and his mother considered the religious life, he was raised as an atheist.)

While Ball admitted “there are some good parts” in the Bible, he found it “not the finest thing that man has ever produced” because it’s “repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned.”

In contrast, he called Kristof’s book a “marvelous tale of two brothers,” complete with “subtlety and cruelty.”

But if the Bible is “overrated,” then GQ is guilty of participating in the trend. The magazine for “Men’s Fashion, Style, Grooming, Fitness, Lifestyle, News & Politics” routinely refers to the Bible. Or at least writes the word.

If GQ readers type “Bible” into GQ’s search bar at the top of its site, 350 results pop up. There are 646 results for “Jesus.” 732 for “Christian.” 241 for “Catholic.” 102 for “biblical.”

That might be because there are 2.2 billion Christians in the world, according to Pew Research Center, including 1.2 billion Catholics. According to the Guinness World Records, a Bible Society survey found that “around 2.5 billion copies” of the Bible “were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion.”

According to the American Bible Society’s 2017 State of the Bible report, 1 in 10 Americans purchased a Bible in 2016 and half of Americans are “Bible users” for “reading, listening to or praying with the Bible on their own at least three to four times a year.”

Just last year, the Bible made headlines in a new way with the opening of the Washington, D.C. Bible Museum. The museum houses everything from a page of the Gutenberg Bible to Bibles owned by former American presidents, athletes, and singers.

Following a November 2017 media preview, Steve Green, who serves as chairman of the board and president of Hobby Lobby, spoke on the Bible’s relevance for today’s Americans.

“There are many principles this nation was built on that many people today may not even understand,” he said in an interview with the MRC. “The idea that all men are created equal, that is where our Founders got that. So our freedoms, our economic system, our political system, many of those are built and influenced by the Bible and many people today don’t know that. And we want people to understand that.”

And that’s just America. If anything, GQ should deem the Bible underrated.

In fact, his testimony actually raised more questions than it answered.

Unfortunately there have been a number of documented cases of censorship against conservative Catholics on Facebook, including the site blocking or removing more than two dozen Catholic pages and removing an advertisement because it featured an image of Jesus on the cross.

One would expect Zuckerberg to be able to explain why such censorship occurs on his site, and what he would do to prevent it from happening in the future.

But it turns out he was either ignorant of or complicit in the systematic suppression of Catholic speech on his website.

Zuckerberg was first asked about Facebook censoring Franciscan University of Steubenville’s advertisement on Tuesday. He claimed ignorance, saying he wasn’t aware of the situation.

When Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers asked Zuckerberg about it again on Wednesday, the tech billionaire admitted the site “made a mistake” but added, “I wouldn’t extrapolate from a few examples to assume that the overall system is biased.”

Sen. Ted Cruz grilled Zuckerberg about the conservative Catholic pages being blocked, and Zuckerberg was unable to name any comparative pages on the Left that have received the same treatment.

Zuckerberg has around 20,000 employees who oversee content on the site, so it’s not at all surprising that he isn’t aware of specific incidents of censorship. However, he should be able to outline some kind of plan that will prevent the rogue Leftist Silicon Valley nerds he employs from silencing conservative Catholics.

The only potential solution Zuckerberg offered was to the creation of “more AI tools” that will preemptively block content from Facebook. Of course, those same Leftist Facebook employees will probably be the ones programming the algorithms.

And by Zuckerberg’s own admission, the AI tools will focus on “hate speech,” which is a subjective term often applied to boilerplate conservative statements. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where opposition to same-sex marriage or abortion could be considered hate speech.

So how, exactly, will Facebook ensure conservative Catholics will be able to freely share content? How long will it take for another two dozen pages to be blocked?

At this point, Zuckerberg’s promise that Facebook is a platform for all viewpoints is empty, especially for Catholics.

]]>https://www.catholicvote.org/lingering-questions-why-zucks-hearing-should-scare-catholics/feed/4‘American Idol’ Contestant Says God Is Her Inspiration: ‘He Makes Me Brave’https://www.catholicvote.org/american-idol-contestant-says-god-is-her-inspiration-he-makes-me-brave/
https://www.catholicvote.org/american-idol-contestant-says-god-is-her-inspiration-he-makes-me-brave/#respondThu, 12 Apr 2018 15:40:01 +0000https://www.catholicvote.org/?p=1735417-year-old Shannon O’Hara has captured the attention of millions while performing on American Idol, but the story of her musical inspiration isn’t being widely reported. She has revealed it to local media: the key to her music, she says, is her faith in God.

To secure her current placing in the show’s top 24, she sang a moving version of Katy Perry’s song, “Unconditionally.” It was a bold move considering that Perry sits on the panel of judges for the show’s 16th season. Shannon’s performance not only caused Katy Perry to tear up, but also prompted Perry to call her a “secret spiritual ninja.”

But Shannon’s rendition of the song about unconditional love wasn’t just for the judges’ ears. She performed it to praise God.

“For me, that song is almost like a worship song — it can be taken that way, and that’s how I took it,” Shannon revealed to The Charlotte Observer. “My faith is really important to me, and it’s a big part of my life, so I wanted to do something that I can kind of relate in that sense.”

Perry knew a little of Shannon’s background, however.

“Shannon, you’ve primarily sang in church, correct?” asked Perry, whose own parents are pastors. “I know exactly how it feels to be raised in church.”

Church is exactly where Shannon sings. She doesn’t boast formal musical training except for a couple years of piano lessons (she taught herself guitar). But, as she told the Observer, she sings at church twice a week, leading worship for her youth group on Thursday nights and then on Sunday mornings.

According to Shannon, Perry had a few more words of praise for her – words that weren’t placed in the episode: “You have the hand of God in your voice.”

“She actually said that to me,” Shannon said, “but they didn’t show that whenever they showed me getting judged. I wished they would have shown that.”

But she wasn’t complaining either. After making the top 24, Shannon celebrated on Instagram by thanking God.

“PRAISE THE LORD!!!! I can’t even believe it,” she exclaimed. “Thank you Jesus for this opportunity. HERE I COME!!”

The North Carolina homeschooled teenager callsAmerican Idol a “dream” that she’s had since she was 6-years-old. But she also hinted, in the show, that she’s performing for a “chance for me to bring some hope to my family in this extremely difficult time.”

Shannon was referring to her dad’s health – and her family preparing to sell her childhood home because they can’t afford his medical bills. The Observer had to “coax” her to reveal further details.

“The restaurant he was the manager of shut down a year and a half ago, and not long after that, his health started getting bad,” Shannon said, adding that he as suffered through “multiple surgeries” and a “lot of pain.”

Her hope was that the show might change that.

“My dad worked really hard my entire life until now, so I’m just trying to help my family financially with this opportunity, as well as following my lifelong dream,” she said. “Hopefully, American Idol can bring my family out of our current situation.”

According to later story, her father has vascular disease – and even had a toe amputated.

“It’s taken over six months for the wound to close; it’s been a really slow process,” Shannon added. “For awhile, he was going to wound care and going to the doctor every other day.”

On Easter, she commented on her whole American Idol experience as part of her love story with God.

“As I look back to that day in August where it all began, I can’t believe where I am now,” she typed. “In my weakness, the Lord’s power has been made perfect in my life. He makes me brave. He rose out of the grave that I was supposed to be in!”

“He is the greatest love I have ever known, and my life has been radically changed because of what Jesus did for me,” she added. “May we remember what He did everyday, not just today.”

And, even if she doesn’t win if she doesn’t win American Idol, she says, she plans to pursue her praise of Him.

“I’d really like to go to this ministry school in California,” she said. “That also involves worship and worship-leading – which is music.”

With Good Friday quickly approaching, churches across the country are preparing to screen Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. But while millions of Americans know about the box office hit that illustrates Jesus’s crucifixion and death, fewer are familiar with the story of the man who played him.

On Thursday, March 22, Liberty University published a video of Jim Caviezel speaking in front of thousands of Christian students at Convocation about his new role in the movie Paul, Apostle of Christ. But the interview largely consisted the 49-year-old actor discussing The Passion – and his story of faith.

“We hold the truth,” he told the students, “and Our Lord gave me an opportunity to do something with it.”

From the beginning of his career, he said, Jesus has held him “like a little lamb.”

“I had the call to be an actor, but it was going to take Him to teach me, to bring me to the right teachers and to the right films,” he said.

That call first came when he turned 19 years old.

“I felt this love that I’d never felt before, this peace I’d never felt before, and I heard God say, ‘I’d like you to be an actor,” he said. It was a “deep experience” that left an “indelible mark written on my heart.”

While his acting career took off at age 28, he said it wasn’t until he starred in the The Passion that God’s call was fully realized. His agent arranged a meeting with Mel Gibson, he said, about a surfing movie. But, as he later discovered, the meeting was really about The Passion.

“Mel Gibson shows up,” Caviezel remembered, “and I suddenly have this shot back to when I was 19-years-old.” As the meeting progressed, he realized, “This isn’t a surfing film,” and asked Gibson, “You want me to play Jesus, don’t you?”

At home in the kitchen, two days later, Caviezel heard his phone ringing. Gibson wanted to know if he still wanted to “play this Jesus guy.”

“He says, ‘If you do it, you may never work in this town again,’” Caviezel recalled. “And I felt fear coming into me.”

After a pause, he heard Gibson mutter “he’s not going to do it.” But that’s when something clicked for Caviezel. He felt a “great love” telling him “we’re all called to carry our cross. If you don’t pick up and carry your cross, you will be crushed by the weight of it.’”

And so he did. Literally.

He responded to Gibson, “I just realized my initials are J.C. and I’m 33-years-old.” Gibson responded by telling Caviezel he was “freaking” him out with the Jesus comparison and promptly hung up.

That started Caviezel’s long journey with the film, which included suffering through a shoulder separation, a bout of hypothermia that led to open heart surgery, a lung infection, and being struck by lightning.

His struggle finally came to a halt one day, as he hung on the cross for filming, with the wind “rip[ping]my shoulder out.” As someone handed him headphones to listen to the Christian song “Above All,” the pain evaporated.

“It took me into heaven,” Caviezel said, and made him realize that “even in all this suffering, man, evil has no power over us.”

After sharing his story, he urged students to live out their own lives.

“Set yourselves apart from this corrupt generation,” he encouraged. “Be saints. You weren’t made to fit in. You were born to stand out.”

He certainly does. According to Caviezel, Gibson’s warning about Hollywood’s rejection of a man who dared star as Jesus came true, to a degree.

“If there was a comedy out there I would do it, but after playing Jesus you don’t really get offers like that anymore,” he toldPeople Monday. “As soon as I did Passion, other [film offers]stopped coming in.”

But he doesn’t regret it for one moment, according to an interview with Polish press.

“There is nothing more glorious and at the same time more humbling than this role,” he said, arguing that his faith illuminates his career.

]]>https://www.catholicvote.org/the-passions-jim-caviezel-reveals-gods-call-to-share-truth-in-acting/feed/0Listen to Your Heart, Not Hollywood: A Lesson From Kylie Jennerhttps://www.catholicvote.org/listen-to-your-heart-not-hollywood-a-lesson-from-kylie-jenner/
https://www.catholicvote.org/listen-to-your-heart-not-hollywood-a-lesson-from-kylie-jenner/#respondFri, 16 Mar 2018 21:07:20 +0000https://www.catholicvote.org/?p=17042If you’re looking for further proof that right morality is written on the heart of every person, look no further than Kylie Jenner.

Last fall, celebrity news outlets buzzed with rumors that Jenner, of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” fame, was pregnant with rapper boyfriend Travis Scott’s child. Since the news of Kylie’s pregnancy broke, the reality TV star-turned-makeup maven-turned mother has found herself at the center of a much-needed conversation surrounding Hollywood’s radical abortion politics.

Like most people, Kylie Jenner probably never thought too deeply about her personal views on life, pregnancy, or abortion until these issues affected her directly. While fans and tabloids voiced their support and disapproval of her decision to keep her child, the 20-year-old kept fairly quiet during the months leading up to her daughter Stormi’s birth in February.

Since then, however, the young mom has shed a very pro-life light on her pregnancy and birth experience. Earlier this week, Jenner engaged fans on Twitter, answering some of their questions about the life-changing event she’d successfully kept secret for so long. The new mom shared a number of previously unknown details, from who she told first, to pregnancy cravings, to the birthing process itself.

“Were you afraid of giving birth?” one Twitter user asked. “I’m just a year older than you and this is my number 1 fear about having a baby.”

“I wasn’t afraid! & you shouldn’t be either,” Jenner replied. “We were made for this.”

This wasn’t the first time Jenner has spoken out about life with Stormi. Days after her daughter’s February 1 birth, she penned a note to her fans, explaining why she chose to keep this major season of her life private. In the note, she describes having a child as “the most beautiful, empowering, and life changing experience” she ever had.

“I’ve never felt love and happiness like this,” she wrote. “I could burst.”

Around the same time, Jenner posted a video titled, “To Our Daughter,” on her YouTube account. The 11-minute video, narrated by Jenner’s friends, begins with footage from the day Jenner was born and goes on to document her own pregnancy. It includes clips from her 15-week ultrasound, where Jenner and Scott counted their daughter’s toes and listened to her heartbeat.

The video is unmistakably pro-life:

While other members of the Kardashian clan have voiced their support for Planned Parenthood, Kylie’s actions and comments surrounding the birth of Stormi stand in bold, beautiful contrast to Hollywood norms. Such actions haven’t gone unnoticed, or unpunished.

Back in September, when the rumors of Jenner’s pregnancy began to surface, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton infamously suggested that the then-19-year-old abort her unborn child. Citing Jenner’s age and her family’s poor reputation when it comes to romantic relationships, Hilton reasoned that the child would be better off not being born than having Jenner as a mom.

To their credit, many pro-choice liberals agreed that the comments went too far. But Hilton’s sentiment certainly couldn’t be considered taboo; it’s perfectly consistent with the mainstream, abortion-on-demand progressivism of Hollywood elites.

The Kardashian-Jenner family has become synonymous with Hollywood standards of promiscuity, vanity, and materialism. This has gained them tremendous success and popularity, and Kylie Jenner’s story proves that breaking away from these values, even slightly, can yield nasty consequences.

Jenner’s positive take on motherhood highlights the tension between the pro-abortion camp’s “clump of cells” narrative and the reality of life’s beauty. Her story shows that you don’t have to ascribe to an explicitly conservative or Judeo-Christian worldview to bear witness and be transformed by eternal truths.

I don’t agree with most of Kylie Jenner’s life decisions, but I couldn’t be more pleased with her decision to choose life, and to listen to her own heart instead of Hollywood, despite the potential backlash.

In a day and age where columnists for nationally circulated news outlets are trying to make eugenics great again by advocating infanticide based on IQ, Jenner’s reflections on motherhood stand out as refreshingly logical, intuitive, and courageous.

The pro-life movement should embrace Kylie Jenner and anyone else who refuses to march in lock-step with a culture that is hostile to truth, love, and life.

From last year through 2018, Hollywood has not only given Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards celebrity status, but also boosted the image of America’s largest abortion provider in at least five different, though connected, ways: Food, awards shows, fashion, television shows, and social media.

These are all everyday things, but Planned Parenthood is anything but normal. According to Planned Parenthood’s most recently published annual report, the organization performed 321,384 abortions and received $543.7 million in “government health services, reimbursements & grants” for the year 2016 – 2017.

Since 1973, the year the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in this country, Planned Parenthood has committed 7.6 million abortions.

But those numbers don’t concern the entertainment industry that regularly spotlights Planned Parenthood. Here are five ways Planned Parenthood has seeped into entertainment:

Planned Parenthood in Food

On Thursday, actress and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi convinced her fellow judges to wear Planned Parenthood pins during the 15th season finale of Bravo’s chef show. Planned Parenthood, she claimed, was essential – just like food.

“We need food for survival, we also need privacy to deal with our own bodies as we see fit,” she tweeted in defense of the decision.

“I thought it was a gentle way of just giving support,” she told Buzzfeed afterwards. The pins expressed the judges’ “point of view,” Lakshmi insisted, as she called Top Chef a “neutral show” that’s “just about good food and good quality.”

This isn’t the first time media have intertwined Planned Parenthood and food. In the past year, both People magazine and feminist Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti interviewed Richards on her pie-baking secrets so that, as Valenti said, everyone would “know this incredible woman for who she really is.”

Planned Parenthood in Awards Shows

A few days before Top Chef, on March 4, Richards walked the red carpet and agreed to interviews at the 90th Academy Awards ceremony. In a (very friendly) interview with entertainment site Popsugar, Richards ironically revealed that she placed her hope in the “next generation.” Never mind that, according to pro-life organizations like the Susan B. Anthony List, 3.8 million abortions have occurred under her watch.

But that wasn’t the end of Richards’s involvement at the Oscars. Later that night, she appeared on stage with nine other activists as rapper Common and singer Andra Day performed their Oscar-nominated song, Stand Up for Something.

“Still pinching myself! It was an honor to share the #Oscars stage,” Richards tweeted.

Other awards shows happily welcome her, including PEN Center USA’s 27th annual Literary Awards Festival. Last year, Richards also attended to introduce author Margaret Atwood of The Handmaid’s Tale and present her with an award.

And when Planned Parenthood isn’t attending awards shows, they’re hosting them – for journalists. Throughout the years, since 1978, Planned Parenthood has delivered a total of 280 awards to journalists and outlets that promote or defend its messaging.

Planned Parenthood In Fashion

Speaking of awards shows, they’re a popular hub for Planned Parenthood-pin wearers – Top Chef wasn’t the first to flaunt them.

At the Oscars, both this year and last, celebrities donned the pins as fashion statements on the red carpet. Actresses Emma Stone and Dakota Johnson attracted the most media attention (and applause) for wearing them in 2017.

That same year, at the Golden Globes, actress Lola Kirke wore a “F*** Paul Ryan” pin in support of Planned Parenthood while actress Tracee Ellis Ross wanted to donate her Golden Globes jewelry to Planned Parenthood.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. forged a partnership with Planned Parenthood, and one New York designer even placed “Planned Parenthood Saves Lives” on the runway in 2017.

In February, actress Amber Tamblyn played Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger in Comedy Central’s Drunk History “Sex” episode. And last year, Planned Parenthood made appearances in shows including FX’s American Horror Story, Freeform’s The Bold Type and CW’s Jane the Virgin.

The trend continues on reality TV. In an October preview of a Keeping Up with the Kardashians episode on E!, sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloé visited Planned Parenthood to “learn firsthand that the nonprofit does more than just abortions.”

Last but not least, there are the late-night shows. Mila Kunis expressed support for Planned Parenthood on Conan, while Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin wore pins on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Richards herself has made appearances on shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Planned Parenthood in Celebrity Social Media

It’s easy to count to 100 and beyond when it comes to celebrities that support Planned Parenthood campaigns, especially on social media.

Last year, at least 20 celebrities, from Elizabeth Banks to Charlize Theron “pinked out” to support Planned Parenthood. As Congress considered defunding the abortion giant, 30 celebrities tweeted out variations of the same pro-Planned Parenthood message to a combined 120 million followers.

Planned Parenthood is well aware of its celebrity backing. In its annual reports, Planned Parenthood has repeatedly thanked celebrities for support, from John Legend to Lena Dunham.